Heart disease remains one of the leading causes of death around the world. In the United States, about one in four deaths is linked to coronary artery disease, a condition where plaque builds up inside the arteries that supply blood to the heart. Finding better ways to understand and treat this disease is a top priority for scientists and doctors.
A research team at the University of Virginia Health has made an exciting discovery that could lead to new treatments for coronary artery disease. Led by Professor Mete Civelek from the University of Virginia School of Medicine, the team focused on special cells that line our blood vessels—called smooth muscle cells.
These cells usually do something helpful: they form a protective cover, or “cap,” over plaque inside the arteries. This cap helps prevent the plaque from breaking off and causing a stroke or heart attack.
But sometimes, the same cells can actually make the disease worse by contributing to plaque buildup. Scientists have been trying to understand why these cells change from helpful to harmful.
To learn more, Noah Perry, a doctoral student in Civelek’s lab, studied smooth muscle cells taken from people who had donated their hearts for transplant. He looked at the genes in these cells to find out what might be causing the shift in their behavior.
The analysis revealed two key problems: how the cells process nitrogen and how they use glycogen, which is the body’s way of storing sugar. These issues may explain why the cells sometimes act in damaging ways.
The team also found something unexpected—a type of sugar called mannose may play a role in triggering these changes. Mannose isn’t one of the sugars we usually think about, like glucose or fructose, but it may still have an effect on how cells behave in the body.
More research is needed to understand exactly how mannose might be involved, but the discovery offers a new area to explore.
Understanding how smooth muscle cells switch roles could lead to new ways to treat or even prevent coronary artery disease. If doctors can stop these cells from becoming harmful, they may be able to slow down or block plaque buildup in the arteries.
Professor Civelek stressed how important this research is, especially because heart disease affects millions of people around the world. While current treatments like statins and blood pressure medicine help many patients, they don’t work for everyone. More options are needed, and this research opens the door to new possibilities.
The team—including Perry, Diana Albarracin, and Redouane Aherrahrou—is continuing their work in hopes of finding better solutions for patients. Their study was published in Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine.
For those interested in heart health, it’s also worth knowing that other studies suggest vitamin D may reduce inflammation, and vitamin K could lower the risk of heart disease by up to one-third. Researchers are also learning more about how food choices affect brain health and how certain cooking methods might increase the risk of vision loss.
All of these discoveries point to one big idea: the way we care for our bodies—through diet, lifestyle, and medical treatments—can have a powerful impact on how long and how well we live. And thanks to ongoing research like this, the future of heart disease treatment looks a little more hopeful.
If you care about heart disease, please read studies that herbal supplements could harm your heart rhythm, and how eating eggs can help reduce heart disease risk.
For more health information, please see recent studies that apple juice could benefit your heart health, and results showing yogurt may help lower the death risks in heart disease.
Copyright © 2025 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.
